


The Sleeping Forest

by Melody_Jade



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-20 01:59:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8232148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melody_Jade/pseuds/Melody_Jade
Summary: The entire forest was still, its occupants all asleep except for her.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jain/gifts).



* * *

The Queen and her three dwarf companions traveled on the road, heading east toward new lands. They traveled with no destination in mind, passing through small towns and big cities, walking beside winding rivers and meadows of flowers. They knew fate would guide them to where they needed to go next.

Now, they paused before a dense forest, gazing into the foreboding darkness inside. “This must be the haunted forest the people in the last town were talking about,” the Queen said.

They had spent a couple of days in that town to replenish their supplies, and the townsfolk had told them stories of the nearby forest and all the strange events that were associated with it – vicious wolves and missing travelers, eerie stillness and skittish animals.

“It’s going to take us too long to walk around it,” one of the dwarfs said, gesturing to either side of them where the forest stretched on for miles and miles.

The dwarfs looked at one another, and then up at the Queen, awaiting her decision. “I do not fear the unknown,” the Queen said. Together as one, the four of them entered the forest.

They made good progress the first day, relying on the innate navigational instincts of the dwarfs to proceed in the right direction. In the evening, they set up camp in the forest, partaking in a feast of fruits and mushrooms. Night fell, and one by one, with bellies full and satisfied, they fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The Queen wasn’t sure what woke her up at first, but she jerked awake in her soft bed of grass, goosebumps rising on her skin despite the warmness of the night.

The forest was unnaturally quiet. There were no owls hooting, or crickets chirping, or even the hoofbeats of forest animals moving around. There were no signs of life at all. “Hello?” the Queen called out uncertainly. She went to the dwarfs and shook each of their shoulders, trying to wake them, but they continued sleeping.

The entire forest was still, its occupants all asleep except for her.

She suddenly caught some movement out of her peripheral vision, and turned sharply to face it. It was a wolf, malnourished and thin, with fur as dark as the night that surrounded them. It regarded her with bright and startled eyes, almost seeming surprised to find another soul awake.

They stared at each other for a long while, before the wolf turned away and left, disappearing into the night.

The Queen dared not fall back asleep for the remainder of the night.

* * *

The dwarfs woke up lethargic the next day, not at all refreshed from their sleep and unsettled by the swiftness by which they fell asleep last night. “I don’t like the sound of this,” the oldest dwarf said, scratching his beard. “Dwarfs sleep infrequently, and this deep sleep is unnatural for us.”

They tried to make haste that day, wanting to leave the forest as quickly as possible. But the forest was huge and dense, and the progress of the tired dwarfs slow, and so they were still in the forest as night approached.

They came across a cottage though, standing incongruously in the wild forest, a garden of herbs and flowers surrounding it. “We shouldn’t stop,” the Queen said, mindful of the strange happenings of the forest and wary of anyone who lived in it. “We should just keep going.”

But the dwarfs were tired and exhausted, and could not walk any further. Before they could even make a decision, the cottage door opened, and an old woman peeked through it. “I thought I heard voices! Come in, come in,” she said, beckoning them in with a friendly wave. “I hardly ever see visitors here! You must be travelers from distant lands.” She ushered them into the cottage, chattering all the while in a friendly manner.

She insisted on cooking dinner for them, and over the delicious stew, regaled them with tales and stories. They asked the old woman about the strange stillness of the forest, and she replied, “Oh indeed, the forest goes quiet at night. The animals have learnt to adapt, you see.”

“Adapt to what?” the Queen asked.

“The wolf that roams the forest at night,” the old woman answered.

“The wolf…” the Queen echoed, remembering the emaciated creature she saw last night. “And why do they fear it?”

“Because it is vicious and savage, my dear. The animals have learnt to hide away at night, for it is only when the sun is away that the wolf roams the forest.”

“Why do you still live here then, are you not scared of it?” the Queen asked.

The old woman shook her head, smiling. “The wolf does not enter my cottage. But heed my warning, do not leave this cottage at night. The wolf roams nearby, and you might get in trouble if you leave my home.”

Later, they settled into their borrowed beds – the Queen in one and the dwarfs sharing the other bed. “I don’t like this,” the Queen whispered to the dwarfs. “Her explanation doesn’t account for why we all fell so deeply asleep last night. This time, let’s try to stay awake, and we will leave once the old woman is asleep.”

Their efforts at staying awake were all for naught though, and one by one, they all fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The Queen once again woke up in the middle of the night, feeling unsettled. The dwarfs laid fast asleep in the other bed, snoring and completely unresponsive to the world. Their snores were the only sound in the cottage. Getting to her feet, the Queen walked outside the room, and noticed that the old woman’s bed was empty, and that the cottage door had been left slightly ajar.

Curious about where the old woman could have gone, the Queen followed outside.

The forest was once again completely silent except for the rustling of dried leaves as she stepped on them. She walked, guided only by the light of the moon, and along the way she saw sleeping birds and deer and bears.

The entire forest was asleep.

There was a noise beside her, and when she turned, she saw that it was the wolf from last night. The wolf regarded her steadily, before it made a soft noise, turned around and started moving away. It paused for a while, looking back at her, seemingly wanting her to follow it.

And so the Queen followed after the wolf.

She knew she should be afraid of the wolf, with its sharp teeth and monstrous appearance, but the Queen had never been afraid of wolves, or dwarfs, or any of those creatures that had looked the most fearsome. They had never sought to harm her, unlike the outwardly loving stepmother who tried to kill her, or a delicious red apple that harbored poison in its core. The beautiful objects were always the most deceitful.

She wasn’t sure how long they walked for or how far they went, but eventually they came to a small clearing, brightly lit by the full moon and the candles that were all around it. At the center of the clearing stood the old woman, her hands raised to the sky as she chanted continuously, bowls of herbs arranged in a circle around her.

The smell of incense and herbs permeated the air around them as dark mist rose from the bowls of herbs, expanding to fill the air around them. The old woman’s chanting rose in volume and goosebumps rose over the Queen’s skin, and she shivered slightly. The wolf pressed more closely against her, a warm reassuring presence at her side.

The Queen and the wolf stayed there for hours observing the old woman’s ritual, until the old woman stopped chanting and the mist started dissipating. Guided by the wolf, the Queen made her way back to the cottage, slipping back into bed and pretending to be asleep before the old woman came back.

* * *

The next day, the Queen gave no outward signs of the secrets she had learnt last night. She only told the old woman that they all had a good night of sleep, and declined the old woman’s offer of breakfast, saying that they needed an early start if they wanted to leave the forest before dark.

The old woman bid them farewell and gave them a basket of food for the road, but the Queen took them out of the dwarf’s arms after they had traveled enough distance away. “We can’t eat this food,” she told them as she threw the contents of the basket away.

“Why? Do you think it’s poisoned?” one of the dwarfs exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” she said, “but I suspect the old woman is behind all the strange happenings in this forest.” She told them what she saw last night, and her suspicions that the food from the cottage and the forest might have magical sleep-inducing properties.

“The wolf and I were the only ones awake in the forest last night. All the other animals were asleep. I was probably able to fight the sleep compulsion because I’ve been under a sleeping curse once, but not the wolf.” She showed them the berries in her pocket. “On our way back last night the wolf showed me these berries and ate them in front of me. I suspect eating these berries helped the wolf fight the sleep compulsion.”

“I thought it was strange that we felt so sleepy all the time when we hardly sleep!” one of the dwarfs exclaimed. “The effect must be strong if it even managed to affect us.”

The dwarfs took the berries from her, and bit into them. “It’s so bitter!” they complained, but they still ate it all.

She guided them back to the clearing. The candles and the bowls of herbs were gone, but the smell of incense and herbs still hovered in the air around the clearing. “This place reeks of dark magic,” the oldest dwarf commented while wrinkling his nose, “I wonder what spell this witch is casting. It can’t just be a sleeping spell.”

“It can’t be anything good,” another dwarf commented. “But how do we stop it if we don’t know what spell or ritual she’s conducting?”

“Maybe I can help,” a new voice said, and they all turned around, sword and axes raised.

A young girl, skinny and dressed in rags, spoke to them from just outside the clearing. Her appearance was unfamiliar to the Queen, but her eyes were familiar. “You’re the wolf,” the Queen said, lowering her sword and approaching the girl.

“Yes,” the girl answered in a sorrowful voice.

“There is a curse upon you,” said the oldest dwarf. “I can sense it.”

The girl nodded. “The old woman casted it on me. I used to visit her all the time with food and keep her company because she seemed lonely, and she was always kind and friendly if a little odd. But one day I chanced upon her doing a ritual outside her cottage, and in my panic I knocked over some of her candles and ruined her spell. She was very angry, and she cast a curse on me.”

The girl looked shaken as she recounted the events, and the Queen went up to her, taking the girl’s hands and rubbing them soothingly. “What curse did she cast on you?”

“I don’t know,” the girl said. “I fell unconscious, and when I woke up, it was nighttime, and I was a wolf. I shift back to my human form during the day, but every night without fail, I turn into a wolf.”

One of the dwarfs spoke up, scratching his beard thoughtfully. “Why don’t you go home and tell people about the witch and what she did to you? Your parents must miss you.”

“I tried!” the girl cried. “I don’t know what the old woman did, but I can’t leave this forest, nor can I go into her cottage or step into this clearing.”

“We’ll help you, I promise,” the Queen said, squeezing the girl’s hands. “We’ll stop the old woman’s ritual and break the curse on you, and then you can go home and reunite with your parents.”

“First we’ll need to know what spell she’s casting,” one of the dwarfs said. “Can you describe it for us? From the magical residue left behind it feels like powerful magic, and one of us might recognize it from your description.”

“Yes I can,” the girl replied. I’ve observed the old woman for months and months, and I can describe everything.”

She told them everything that the old woman did, from the placement of the candles, to the types of herbs she used, every word that she chanted and every motion of her hands. It was unfamiliar to the Queen, but the dwarfs were nodding thoughtfully, even asking the girl questions to clarify some details.

“It’s a very ancient ritual,” one of the dwarfs said at last, after conferring at length among themselves. “One used to prolong life by siphoning life forces from sleeping creatures. If cast properly, the spell slips into every root and leaf of this forest and induces sleep in those that eat these plants, and then again in their predators until the whole forest is asleep, and all the old woman needs to do is absorb these life forces every night. It is a very powerful spell, one that can even affect us. The only reason our Queen was spared its effects was because she had once survived a sleeping curse.”

* * *

Using the dwarfs’ knowledge of the ancient ritual, they came up with a plan to break the old woman’s spell. The girl could not enter the clearing, but the Queen and the dwarfs had no such restriction on them, so they buried thistle and sage under the ritual site, and scattered the bitter berries everywhere around the clearing. Without the ritual to replenish her energy, the dwarfs hypothesized that the old woman will lose her magic, and once that happened, the curse that she had casted on the girl should be broken too.

They ate the berries for food that day, despite its bitter taste, and tried to sleep in the afternoon so that they’ll be wide awake that night. Night fell, and gradually, all the noise of the forest ceased as the animals all fell asleep. The girl shifted back into her wolf form, screaming in pain as they watched helplessly. Afterward, the Queen went over to cuddle the shaky wolf, and together with the dwarfs, they hid in the shadows of the trees, waiting for the old woman to arrive.

The old woman didn’t notice anything amiss at first. In quick, practiced movements she set up her ritual site and invoked the spell incantation. Dark mist rose up from the bowls of herbs.

Suddenly, the old woman stopped in the middle of her chant, a look of consternation flashing over her face.

A bird chirped. A deer lurched into the clearing, knocking over one of the candles. The wolf lifted her head, her body trembling with anticipation, as around them, the animals of the forest started waking up from their unnatural sleep.

The old woman screamed in rage.

“Let’s get out of here,” the Queen said, and together, they ran from the clearing. They haven’t ran for long before the wolf stumbled, falling to the ground, and when the Queen ran to help her up, she was a wolf no longer, but a girl once more.

They left the forest, guided by the girl, as deer ran and birds flew around them. They reached the edge of the forest just as day broke, and made their way to the nearby town where the girl’s parents lived.

The Queen and the dwarfs accompanied the girl all the way to her house, where she was greeted by her parents with joyful exclamations and tearful hugs. They stayed for breakfast, but made their farewells soon afterward, leaving a grateful and reunited family behind.

They headed back east on the road, in search of yet more untold tales.

* * *

 


End file.
